Persian and Greek Civilizations

Greek and Persian civilizations have both left a lasting impression on the modern

world with their political, cultural, and military practices. Greeks left a very rich cultural

history with their philosophy, literature, and science influencing peoples from southwest

Asian to western Europe. The Persians, more specifically the Achaemenid empire, were

very successful in expanding and governing a vast empire that included many different

types of peoples. They demonstrated how it was possible to build and maintain a large

empire with their administrative techniques that they inherited from previous rulers. The

Greeks will be examined from the 8th to 6th centuries BCE in the city-states of Athens and

Sparta. The Acheamenid empire, the most dominant and influential of the various

empires that the Persian civilization produced from 6th to 4th centuries BCE will also be

looked at closely. Both civilizations dominated their surrounding empires but did so in

different ways, this paper will look at the many similarities and differences between these

2 great civilizations with an emphasis on politics, military and economic practices, and

religion.

The main difference between these 2 civilizations were there motives for

expanding. The Greeks did not look to expand and colonize other lands for wealth or to

be a vast empire unlike the Achaemenid empire who sought to conquer all neighboring

societies. They only expanded out of necessity when their resources were running out or

their urban cities were too crowded. When they did expand they looked for neighboring

cities along the Mediterranean while the Persians were always looking to expand their

empire to become the most dominant empire the world had known.

These two civilizations were each different in the way they were run politically.

The Achaemenid empire had a centralized imperial government that